Davanagere district is home to a large number of unorganised sector workers. Example: Beedi workers, Mandakki bhatti workers, domestic workers, garments women workers, agriculture coolie workers etc. The city has Chigateri Public Hospital (district tertiary care hospital) and the Women and Children Hospital. These hospitals are accessed for treatment services by people from not only Davanagere district but also by the poor from far off districts of Vijayanagara, Chitradurga, Bellary etc. Public health facilities like these and Primary Health centres, Urban Health Centres are a great resource to people who live in urban slums, marginalised and poor communities.
We work with the local healthcare facilities through women collectives to strengthen this system and improve accessibility of healthcare services. We work closely with the district hospitals in Davanagere and Haveri, Women and Children Hospital and Urban Health Centres. We have undertaken several case studies regarding the quality of care, denial of care and worked towards improving the services at these public health facilities through partnership and advocacy. Women continue to take on addressing issues of corruption, unavailability of free medicines, tests, and discrimination in healthcare settings.
In addition, we engage with the women to reduce information asymmetry in regard to their own health and empower them to take better charge of their health with a specific focus in sexual and reproductive health and rights.
